We publish and sell books on cultural heritage, social history, visual arts, environment and architecture of Southeast Asia. Our bookshop is located at 72 Lebuh Acheh, George Town, Penang, Malaysia, and is open 10am-6pm daily.

Featured Author

Khoo Salma Nasution ICAS Book Prize Winner 2015

Writer, publisher and heritage advocate. She is author or co-author of about a dozen books, namely Streets of George Town (1993), Penang Postcard Collection (2003), Raja Bilah and the Mandailings in Perak (2003), Kinta Valley: Pioneering Malaysia’s Modern Development (2005), More Than Merchants (2006), Sun Yat Sen in Penang (2008), Heritage Houses of Penang (2009) and Redoubtable Reformer: The Life and Times of Cheah Cheang Lim (2015). Her recent book The Chulia in Penang (2014) is the winner of the ICAS Book Prize 2015, Colleagues’ Choice Award.

What people say?

‘I must also congratulate you on the enormous output from Areca Books. Whenever I get an update of a new publication it makes my heart sing – the scope of work you produce and the beautiful books are a genuine inspiration.’

Michael Sexton, award-winning journalist, ABC TV, Adelaide

‘Areca Books is really a socialenterprise which has done a great deal to generate wider interest in Malaysian history and heritage. They now have thousands of copies of their books out there, inspiring new knowledge projects and cultural enterprises – the full impact of their works may only be realised later.’

M. Nadarajah, Global Centre for the Study of Sustainable Futures and Spirituality

‘Great credit on the Penang printers, Phoenix Press, and the publishers Areca Books, whose stated ambition is to publish quality scholarly works on Malaysia’s history and cultural heritage’.

John Bastin, JMBRAS

‘You do a great job as one of the foremost flagship carriers of the indigenous publishing in Southeast Asia.’

Terence McGee, Professor Emeritus of Asian Research and Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver